Kinda like here sometimes
(with certain honourable exceptions!)
When it comes to opinions and general posts, yes, but far less so when it comes to fares advice, in general the people who post fares advice here tend to know their stuff! Of course not everyone can know everything but you don't tend to see here people saying things that are totally and utterly untrue when it comes to fares information.
Anyway for the avoidance of doubt the rules are:
East Coast Revenue Protection Handbook said:
C7.1.1. Travel by a Different Route - with a higher fare
Return Tickets - Travel in one direction
Ticket held:
Standard Anytime / Day Return
First Anytime / Day Return
Off-peak Return / Day Return
Super Off-Peak Return
Weekender Return
Action:
Charge half the difference between the fare paid
and the appropriate Return fare for the journey
being made. If no through fare, charge the
appropriate Single fare for the part of the journey
not covered by the ticket held.
Also another TOC provided this:
Travel by a different route with a higher fare– Opportunity to buy before boarding
Return Tickets (Standard & First Class)
a) Travel in One Direction
Charge HALF the difference between the fare paid and the appropriate Return fare for the journey being made
If no through fare, charge the appropriate Single fare for the part of the journey not covered by the ticket
Notes:
Railcard discounts are allowed provided the original ticket is discounted;
Reference to 'appropriate fare' means the cheapest Single or Return fare available for immediate travel on the chosen service.
Important notes (myth-busters!)
- The excess is the same regardless of whether there was or was not opportunity to buy before boarding, there is
NO penalty for buying on board
- Railcard discounts
ARE allowed (providing original ticket has a Railcard discount)
- The full difference is not charged.
HALF the difference is charged
- The excess is to the
APPROPRIATE fare, that means (Super) Off Peak (Day) where valid. It does NOT mean the excess has to be to an Anytime, even if the original ticket is an anytime (there is an example in The Manual of a Not London Anytime ticket being excessed to a Super Off Peak valid via London)
Routeing Guide has this to say
http://www.atoc.org/clientfiles/File/RSPDocuments/instructions.pdf
Where two or more permitted routes are available for a specific journey, customers may wish to travel out by one route and return by another. If a higher fare applies for the return leg of the journey the customer should be issued with a ticket for the more direct route and an excess fare issued to cover the difference in fare for the return routeing. This option should be made available to customers who wish to pre-book a dual routed ticket prior to travel.
Sadly Thetrainline will not offer this option, a ticket office would need to be sell the ticket to do that at the time of purchase (a ticket office wouldn't charge Thetrainline's awful fees either).
The NR CoC has this to say
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/system/galleries/download/misc/NRCOC.pdf
13 (e) If you make your journey by a route other than those referred to in (a) and (b)
above, you will be liable to pay an excess fare. This excess fare will be the
difference between the price paid for the ticket you hold and the price of the
lowest priced ticket(s) available for immediate travel that would have entitled you
to travel by that route.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
The OP has provided info as follows:
(All prices are with a 16-25 railcard which was held by the OP)
Original ticket held:
Lancaster to Winchester SVR Rte Banbury £64.70
Correct excess:
Lancaster to Winchester SVR Rte +London £0.25 (or is it 0.20? not sure if you round up or down)
Advice given by barrier staff at Euston:
New ticket London to Lancaster SVS Rte + London £50.50
For travel on 1S06 1930 EUS-GLC between EUS and LAN.
Therefore the OP was overcharged by approx £50.25 (I am not including the £4 LU fare).
This is absolutely absurd and inexcusable action by Virgin Trains ticket barrier staff. Not only did they ignore the rules of excessing, but also ignored the fact that the original ticket was valid from the first calling point, Warrington. Therefore the customer was only not valid between London and Warrington, not all the way to Lancaster. The price of making the ticket be valid was 25p not £50.
This is not the first time (by any means) we've had reports of awful barrier staff at Euston, and I fear it will not be the last, as Virgin appear to have taken insufficient steps to ensure that their staff are appropriately trained.
Virgin 100% to blame here for overcharging a customer by £50. I expect not just the money back but some compensation from Virgin for stress and inconvenience caused.
